The Reflection's Revenge
by CaskettKlainer
Summary: The reflection had a plan. Hire a hitman, kill Valkyrie, break Skulduggery. All to get revenge after she got shot. So they know what it feels like.  Will Valkyrie survive or the reflection succeed?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

She remembered the moment when she became Stephanie Edgely.

She'd been nothing, a image, a reflection in a mirror, but then the symbol was drawn and the words were spoken. Then she stepped out.

She'd been given her memories, her personality and her duty. To pretend to be Stephanie Edgely, as the real Stephanie roamed the magical world.

She had never questioned what had to be done. It was all she knew.

But everything changed when he shot her.


	2. Chapter 1: Hired

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Skulduggery Pleasant characters (although I wish I did - they're awesome). They belong to Derek Landy**

**Chapter 1: Hired**

The girl sat patiently on the damp sand, watching the distant waves toss and tumble in the scarce moonlight. She held down the dark hood of her jumper as it attempted to billow in the wind. Rain pelted down on the desolate beach, thoroughly soaking its only occupant. She tried not to shiver, but it was impossible to do so. It was truly unpleasant weather.

Billy-Ray Sanguine trudged grumpily along the beach. His clothes were plastered to his body and his hair was poking up at odd angles. "Why is it always rainin'?" the Texan grumbled. The girl stood up and walked over to Sanguine.

"Mr Sanguine," she said evenly.

He looked at her, mildly surprised.

"Moon?" he inquired.

She looked up at the moon, which was barely visible through the cloud cover, and smiled at the use of her chosen name.

"Yes, I am Moon," she replied confidently.

"Who do you want me to kill?" he asked eagerly, pulling his jacket tighter around him.

She stared at his sunglasses and the empty eye-sockets beyond.

"Valkyrie Cain."

He smiled deviously, gleefully rubbing his hands together.

"Any particular way?"

"In front of Skulduggery Pleasant, as painfully as you can. And then bury the skeleton detective underground, where he can torment himself forever," Moon requested warily.

Sanguine's smiled grew even bigger.

"I'll do it. When do I get paid?"

"Don't rush into situations, Mr Sanguine. We both know how difficult it would be to restrain the skeleton, even with someone as _gifted in his trade _as yourself."

"Never been called gifted in my trade before. Nice way of putting it..." he said thoughtfully. "Anyway, what do you mean by difficult?"

"You know just as well as I do what I mean. You've dealt with them before. They're a fearsome duo. So I want you to hire others, to get the job done. Whoever you want. You're in charge. I'll pay for it." She handed him a wad of money.

His face was unreadable as he accepted the money. "Anyone?"

She nodded.

"I'll do it."

He stepped back and the sand parted, revealing the ground. Thousands of tiny cracks appeared, then he sank into the earth and was gone.

Moon turned around and walked along the beach, the wind blowing back her hood. She wasn't concerned, since Sanguine was gone. She had long dark hair which was now whipping around her face. She looked to be around sixteen, someone far too young to be dealing with the likes of Billy-Ray Sanguine. However, she wasn't just someone. She looked exactly like Valkyrie Cain, the girl she'd just ordered to kill.

But she wasn't Valkyrie Cain. She was her reflection.


	3. Chapter 2: The Imaginary Mirror Room

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Skulduggery Pleasant characters. **

**Chapter 2: The Imaginary Mirror Room**

Valkyrie Cain hauled herself through her bedroom window, exhausted. She was dripping wet from the ongoing rain, even though she'd only been outside for a matter of minutes. Her reflection was watching her curiously from where it sat at her desk, pausing from doing its homework. The reflection was also soaked, which puzzled Valkyrie.

"How did you get drenched?" she asked curiously, peeling off her sodden boots.

"I had to put out the bins. Do you wish to resume your life?" It replied bluntly.

She nodded, shrugging off her tailor-made coat.

It silently stood up and walked over to the mirror, casually stepping _into_ it.  
Moments later, Valkyrie touched it, the reflection's memories of the day flooding into her head. She bit her lip as she scanned through them, finding nothing out of the ordinary.  
'Good,' she thought, as she left to have a shower.

* * *

Moon stepped into the mirror. Surrounding her was a dull grey room in the shape of a square. On the wall behind her was a full length mirror – her portal to Valkyrie's bedroom. In the corner was a desk piled high with notebooks, and in the other corner there was a faded red beanbag.

The room wasn't actually a real room. It was a figment of her imagination. When Moon is inside the mirror, her consciousness is contained there. So it occupys itself by sitting in the room and doing whatever it wants, while waiting to be called back to reality.

Suddenly, Valkyrie touched the mirror, allowing the exchange of memories to begin. Moon concentrated, restraining the memories of her meeting with Sanguine and substituting them with fakes.  
Then it was over. She sprawled herself on the beanbag, searching through Valkyrie's memories. They'd gotten to another dead end in their search for Solomon Wreath, and the Sanctuary had found the corpses at MacGillycuddy's Reeks from when Darquesse was released. She felt Valkyrie's subconscious guilt. She was also anxious since the Grand Mage had been trying to get Skulduggery on the case. Thankfully, he had convinced him he'd find out more if he's looking for Wreath.  
And then Skulduggery had been teaching her a lot more elemental magic lately, so she wouldn't need her necromancer ring, even trying to confiscate it. He's become extremely distrustful at the Necromancer's because of what he believes the High Priest did.

Moon sighed. That was one busy life. She got up and sauntered over to her desk, producing a thick notebook. On the cover it read **REVENGE PLAN 6**, in big, black letters. She had started writing revenge plans ever since she became glitched.  
The whole revenge thing had started when Skulduggery shot her. She remembered suddenly getting brought to the Torment's lair, having not a clue what was happening. And then there was a bang, and she was dying. The pain was immense and unlike anything imaginable, the feeling consuming her. And then she felt a flicker of something else through the pain. Betrayal. And then she was dead.  
When she returned to the mirror, emotions came with her. A feeling of betrayal and need for revenge. And a need to be more. More than a reflection in a mirror. Someone.  
She chose a name: Moon. She had considered its metaphorical importance for a long time.  
It represents what she used to be. The moon doesn't exist without the light of the sun and she doesn't exist without Valkyrie.

She ambled back to the beanbag, sprawling herself across it and beginning to read. Soon Valkyrie will be dead, and she will have her revenge on Skulduggery for so carelessly slaughtering her. The warmth of vengeance seeped through her. Her plan will soon reach fruition.


	4. Chapter 3: The Meeting

Chapter 3: The Meeting

Billy-Ray Sanguine sat impatiently in the corner of the pub. The stench of sweat and alcohol hung in the stale air, adding to the general unpleasantness of the bar. He'd been fiddling on his phone for the past two hours, trying to find a game on it which wasn't pong. He didn't have one drink, he was here on business. But the person he was supposed to be seeing was late. As she always was. He decided on playing pong, and mindlessly played the ancient videogame, while waiting. And then she arrived.

She wore a long, dark cloak and the hood was up over her head. She had a black scythe at her side, making her look exactly like the Grim Reaper. The barman shrunk against the wall and shuffled out, hoping Death didn't notice him. She slumped into the seat across from Sanguine and removed her hood. She had glistening golden hair which virtually glowed in the pale light. Her deep, dark eyes locked onto Sanguine's.  
"Who do you need help with now?' she asked slyly.  
"Mysteria Lane. You arrive at last," he drawled mockingly.  
"You know what the key word in that sentence was? Help. William-Raymond Sanguine, _hitman deluxe _needs help. I am correct, aren't I?" She continued, pretending her associate hadn't spoken.  
"It's that annoying girl, Cain." He growled. Mysteria casually began to sharpen her scythe.  
"The infamous Valkyrie Cain. How old is she? Fifteen? She stole your straight razor, didn't she? Scared to go after her in case she does it again?" Mysteria cackled playfully.  
Sanguine sighed. "I would've thought you'd know about her partner, darlin'. Aren't ya supposed to know everything?"  
"The skeleton? I understand why you need assistance from yours truly…" Sanguine threw a punch at her face, but she easily dodged it. "You always did have a problem with your temper. So am I right? It's the skeleton, isn't it?"  
Sanguine slumped back in his seat. "Yes," he muttered, sounding like a little kid who'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  
"What do you need me to do?" she sighed.  
"I figure you could use ya symbols to detain him, while I get the girl." Sanguine rubbed his hands gleefully.  
"Why don't you just detain him yourself? Just bring him underground, leave him there, and get the business done up here," she inquired thoughtfully.  
"Now, this shows how I'm a killer, and you're not. I want the skeleton to _watch_ me killing the girl. It will break his tiny, nonexistent heart. _Then_ I'll bury him. Where he'll stay."  
Mysteria nodded thoughtfully.  
"I assume you are embarking on a quest for revenge since no employer would ever leave the matter of employing others in the hands of you, William-Raymond. And in assuming that fact, I believe you will not be paying me a great deal of money."  
Sanguine just sat there for a moment, processing what Mysteria had just said. Then, upon understanding, he grinned deviously. "My 'foolhardy' employer actually _did_ leave me in charge of hiring associates. And they happened to give me a great deal of money, just for that purpose." Mysteria raised an eyebrow as Sanguine produced a large wad of money and dumped it on the table.  
"Okay, William-Raymond. I'll help, even though it is evident that your employer gave you more money, you're just keeping it for yourself. My reasoning? It's obvious you wouldn't have a chance of succeeding without assistance from yours truly… And I'd love to see that skeleton buried."  
She snatched up the money and placed it in her cloak pocket. She shrugged on her hood and left, without any snarky last words.

Sanguine produced a leaf from his pocket, and promptly ate it. He then pocketed his sunglasses and slipped away, into the ground. 


End file.
